Verse 1— Go to now, ye rich men, weep and howl. "Go to now," used before by this writer, or attributed to him by the Common Version as here used, amounts to a call which he makes to a class he designates as rich. He calls upon them that they may weep and howl. "Wail and mourn" conveys the idea to our minds that is intended to reach the Jewish mind. And I take it that here James intended his call to reach, especially, the unbelieving Jew. The inspired vision of the writer embraced in its sweep the calamity that would fall upon the Jews in a few brief years — the destruction of their city. They are called upon to wail and mourn because of coming judgments that were being brought upon them as a punishment for sins.